About matthew mcglynn
matt mcglynn is the founder of what is arguably the best microphone website in the world, RecordingHacks.com. He is a lifelong technologist with a super-power of making order out of chaos and an unhealthy fascination with professional audio gear.
He can be easily contacted via email, Twitter, Facebook, About.me, or Google.
Posts by matt
iOxboom iPad Mounting System Review
A couple of years ago, I bought an iPad harness so I could mount the tablet near my drums. I spent no more than 90 seconds researching the purchase — only as long as it took to identify the best-selling compatible item from Amazon.com. But the product turned out to be so poorly designed that […]
Posted:Monday, September 8th, 2014
(9 Awesome Comments)
Six Ribbons, Two Voices
For this session of our “$1k Ribbon Mic Shootout“, we present two different male voices reading a narration. You’ll hear one voice through every mic at fixed distances (9 and in some cases also 4 inches), and a second voice at a distance selected for (subjectively) optimum results. Hear MP3s in a blind listening test […]
Posted:Saturday, August 2nd, 2014
(7 Awesome Comments)
Female Vocals Ribbon Mic Shootout
The third session of our “$1k Ribbon Mic Shootout” features a sensational vocalist named Molly Reed. She sang a song that I believe is by Celia Cruz, called Te Busco. The downloadable session file contains audio samples at 4-inch and 8-inch working distances, and a “control” track from a Neumann U87. Read on for MP3 […]
Posted:Friday, July 25th, 2014
(3 Awesome Comments)
Alto Sax Ribbon Mic Test
The sax session of our “$1k Ribbon Mic Shootout” was made possible by John Patrick Douglas, a wonderful musician who has played with dozens of jazz, classical and world music acts from the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. John brought his alto sax, a 1959 Selmer Mk VI (Jody Jazz HR 6 mouthpiece, 3.5 […]
Posted:Wednesday, July 16th, 2014
(2 Awesome Comments)
$1k Ribbons – Frequency Analysis and Proximity Test
In this second installment of the “$1k Ribbon Shootout,” we’ll measure and compare frequency responses across all the mics, and listen to how each one responds to proximity. Finally, we’ll do a self-noise test. By way of quick review, here are the six ribbon microphones included in this evaluation:
Posted:Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
(2 Awesome Comments)
The New ($1k) Ribbon Shootout
A handful of exciting new ribbon microphones have come out in the past year, so naturally, I got a pair of each and staged some sessions. We pulled in a few familiar models for comparison purposes; because the new mics all fall into the midpriced ($600-$1000) tier, we limited the selection to microphones under $1000. […]
Posted:Friday, June 13th, 2014
(11 Awesome Comments)
Conclusion to the Giant Ribbon Shootout
In which we circle back after 3 years (!) and wrap up the most ambitious and expensive ribbon microphone test ever made.
Posted:Monday, May 26th, 2014
(6 Awesome Comments)
ADK T-Fet Mic Review
Hear ADK’s five new $1800 microphones on the wonderful voice of Youtube star Lauren O’Connell.
Posted:Monday, May 12th, 2014
(9 Awesome Comments)
Triad-Orbit Orbital Mic Adaptor Review
A full review of the best microphone accessory I’ve ever seen. “Precise mic placement without compromise,” indeed!
Posted:Monday, April 28th, 2014
(1 Comment)
Introducing the Royer R-121 XL
Burbank, CA (April 1, 2014) — Royer Labs announces the availability of the R-121 XL, the world’s longest ribbon microphone. Featuring an 8-inch long ribbon, the R-121 XL delivers unprecedented proximity effect and low-frequency extension. “We began with the R-121 ribbon motor,” says designer David Royer, “and just made it a lot longer. The commercial […]
Posted:Tuesday, April 1st, 2014
(6 Awesome Comments)